THE GAME OF BASKETBALL t could have been called boxball In the winter of 1891 James Naismith an instructor at a YMCA training school in Springfield Mass asked the janitor to hang a couple of boxes from the gymnasium balcony for an experimental indoor ball game The game became known as basket ball because the janitor unable to find boxes to make the elevated goals nailed up two half bushel peach baskets Naismith came up with the game in hopes of curing the win ter doldrums of his students who had grown bored with the routine of gymnastics and calisthenics Naismith first experimented with indoor versions of rugby lacrosse and other sports but they proved too violent The former divinity student eventually struck upon the idea of upright goals that would minimize the force on the ball and IO
THE GAME OF BASKETBALL James Naismith the creator of basketball Hulton Archive Getty Images II
BASKETBALL AND ITS GREATEST PLAYERS keep some distance between the players and the actual scoring Thus the internationally popular game of basketball was born How THE GAME Is PLAYED The first basketball games played by James Naismith's students had two nine man teams and were played with a soccer ball In the first years of basketball competition the game was played under a wide range of rules The number of players varied from 10 to 18 the courts were often irregularly shaped and baskets were attached to balconies that allowed fans to swat shots from the basket Within the next decade the familiar rules and equipment of the modern game were established and continued to be modified to enhance the excitement of the competition RULES AND EQUIPMENT The dimensions of the indoor playing floor are 50 feet 15 2 meters by 94 feet 28 7 meters for professional and college play High school courts may be smaller The international court is 49 2 feet 15 meters by 92 feet 28 meters Every court includes a line that divides the court in half and at 12
THE GAME OF BASKETBALL the midpoint of that line is the center circle Other court markings include the free throw line and lane markings and a three point line that is 19 feet 9 inches 6 meters from the basket in college and high school play and 23 feet 9 inches 7 2 meters in the National Basketball Association NBA At each end of the court is a goal or basket NBA Basketball Court basket 18 in 46 cm free throw line 224 6 7 m free throw lane 50 152 m backboard 12 23 19 in 72m three point line 15 4 6 m center circle 94 28 7 m basket rim to floor 10 3 m minimum circumference 29 5 in 749 am minimum weight 20 oz 567 9 For NBA competition a basketball court is laid out on a hardwood floor in a gymnasium or other indoor arena The area at each end of the court marked by the free throw lane and its restraining circle popularly called the key is named for its resemblance to a keybole The standard dimensions of 94 feet 28 7 meters in length and 50 feet 15 2 meters in width may vary in high school and international play Merriam Webster Inc 13
